Written Answers Wednesday 9 March 2005

Scottish Executive

Angling

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms will be used to prosecute anyone breaching the environment agency’s rod licence arrangements on the Scottish section of the Border Esk.

Lewis Macdonald: Anyone reported by the police or bailiffs as being suspected of committing a breach of the rod licence arrangements will be considered by the procurator fiscal for referral to the courts, as would be the case for any other failure to fulfil the particular requirements in force for any river in Scotland.

Angling

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has responded to the Environment Agency’s draft fisheries management plan for the Border Esk and, if so, whether it will publish the response.

Lewis Macdonald: The latest draft incorporates advice provided at a meeting to discuss the plan held by the Scottish Executive and Fisheries Research Services with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and the Environment Agency.

Children

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the cost of raising a child to the age of 18 at 2004 prices.

Malcolm Chisholm: There is no reliable information on these costs.

Community Centres

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what sources of funding are available to assist community halls to comply with legislative requirements.

Tavish Scott: Funding may be available through the Local Capital Grant Scheme, which is a component of the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund, and is designed to support local voluntary, youth and community organisations to provide new or upgrade existing community premises. While funding is not provided solely to meet statutory requirements, it may be possible to incorporate these if they are part of a wider proposal to refurbish the premises. It may also be possible to obtain revenue funding from the local authority in which the community hall is situated, albeit this would be at the discretion of individual local authorities.

Community Wardens

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how future funding for community wardens will be allocated.

Hugh Henry: On 28 February I announced Scottish Executive funding to tackle antisocial behaviour up to 2008. It is for local agencies working with local people to identify priorities in their area where the funding should be spent. Councils can use this funding for community wardens if this is deemed to be a priority for their area.

  From 2005 funding will be tied to antisocial behaviour outcome agreements. Allocations for future years will be made upon ministerial approval of outcome agreements and satisfactory progress towards outcomes.

Competition Act 1998

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty’s Government in support of its plans to repeal the Competition Act 1998 (Land and Vertical Agreements Exclusion) Order 2000, in light of views expressed by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents and the Scottish Grocers Federation.

Mr Jim Wallace: On 23 February the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced its preliminary conclusions on newspaper and magazine distribution in light of the repeal of the Vertical Exclusion Order.

  The OFT concluded that it would not recommend to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry that a block exemption be made for newspaper and magazine distribution. Preliminary findings also indicated that current distribution agreements for newspapers are likely to be compatible with the Competition Act and that, without "absolute territorial protection" restrictions, agreements for magazines are also likely to be compatible.

  The Scottish Executive will continue to engage with interested parties regarding any further impacts of the decision to repeal the order.

Dentistry

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS dentists there have been in (a) the NHS Grampian area, (b) Banff and Buchan, (c) Gordon, (d) West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and (e) Eastwood in each year since 1997.

Rhona Brankin: The following table provides a breakdown of the NHS dentists in the areas requested

  Number of NHS General Dental Practitioners1,2,3 (at 30 September 2004)

  

Year
NHS Grampian
Banff and Buchan
Gordon
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
Eastwood


1997
160
24
16
28
43


1998
162
22
18
23
47


1999
167
23
19
21
43


2000
161
21
20
23
42


2001
157
22
21
26
42


2002
155
21
21
24
42


2003
164
17
19
25
44


2004
174
17
19
19
43



  Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).

  Notes:

  1. Numbers are based on non-salaried and salaried principals (excludes vocational trainees and assistants).

  2. Based on location of practice.

  3. An NHS general dental practitioner is counted once for each area where he/she has a contract to provide general dental services.

Dentistry

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will respond to the report by the General Dental Council following its inspection of the Glasgow Dental School, where "fundamental and on-going problems" were identified.

Rhona Brankin: I will be meeting Muir Russell, Principal of Glasgow University, to discuss the issues raised in the report. The standards of dental education are the responsibility of the University of Glasgow and the General Dental Council. I am confident that progress has been and is being made, with the full support of Greater Glasgow Health Board and NHS Education for Scotland, who are responsible for the clinical support services.

Dentistry

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) average number of patients per general dental practitioner and (b) number of general dental practitioner vacancies expressed as a percentage of overall posts is, broken down by NHS board area.

Rhona Brankin: The average number of NHS patients per NHS general dental practitioner, broken down by NHS board area, is shown in the table below.

  Information on the number of patients registered under private arrangements is not collected.

  Information on the number of general dental practitioner vacancies is not held centrally.

  Average Number of Registered NHS Patients per NHS General Dental Practitioner (GDP); at 30 September 2004

  

NHS Board Area
Average Number of Registered Patients1,2,3,4


Scotland
1,294


Argyll and Clyde
1,341


Ayrshire and Arran
1,436


Borders
1,523


Dumfries and Galloway
1,539


Fife
1,517


Forth Valley
1,497


Grampian
1,451


Greater Glasgow
1,129


Highland
882


Lanarkshire
1,336


Lothian
1,210


Orkney
926


Shetland
924


Tayside
1,380


Western Isles
1,571



  Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).

  Notes:

  1. An NHS GDP may work in more than one NHS board area.

  2. Based on the number of non-salaried and salaried principal GDPs.

  3. Registrations data extracted 3 March 2005.

  4. Calculated by dividing the total number of NHS patients registered by the number of NHS GDPs.

Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for dog fouling since the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 came into force, broken down by local authority area.

Tavish Scott: The number of dog fouling fixed penalty notices issued by local authority area is not held centrally. However, based on information submitted by those local authorities who responded to a recent survey undertaken by the Executive, the local authorities who have introduced the provisions contained in the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 and the number of fixed penalties they have issued during the first year of its operation are shown in the table.

  

Local Authority
Fixed Penalty Notices Issued in Year to 22 October 2004


Aberdeen City
14


Angus
21


Argyll and Bute
12


City of Edinburgh
325


Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Nil


Dundee City
86


East Dunbartonshire
Nil


East Lothian
11


East Renfrewshire
Nil


Fife
29


Glasgow City
88


Midlothian
10


North Lanarkshire
67


Scottish Borders
Nil


South Lanarkshire
Nil


Stirling
2


West Lothian
3



  Note: In addition to those local authorities listed above, a further seven of the 26 local authorities who responded to the Executive survey indicated that they intended to introduce the provisions by April 2005.

Education

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school cultural co-ordinators have been employed in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority.

Patricia Ferguson: The table details the number of people employed as cultural co-ordinators in the last three years and the number of posts which each local authority applied for. The table also indicates which local authorities have been awarded Phase II funding to date.

  Each "post" is equivalent to two days per week. In responding to local need, local authorities have chosen to use their allocations in a number of different ways. Some create full-time positions, for example, whilst others deliver their service through several temporary appointments. In addition, they are not obliged to take up their full entitlement as these posts are match funded by the local authority.

  

Authority
Posts
Applied For
Co-ordinators in post
Awarded Phase II


Feb-03
Feb-04
Jan-05


Aberdeen City 
8
3
3
3
 


Aberdeenshire 
5
5
5
5
 


Angus 
2
2
2
2
 


Clackmannanshire 
2
2
2
2
yes


Dumfries and Galloway 
6
4
6
4
yes


Dundee City 
3
3
2
2
yes


East Ayrshire 
6
3
3
3
yes


East Dunbartonshire 
8
2
4
2
 


East Lothian 
4
1
1
1
 


East Renfrewshire 
4
20*
20*
20*
yes


Edinburgh, City of 
8
4
4
4
 


Eilean Siar
4
0
0
1
yes


Falkirk 
4
2
2
2
yes


Fife 
8
4
4
4
yes


Glasgow City
8
5
5
5
 


Highland 
8
8
6
0
 


Inverclyde 
4
2
2
2
 


Midlothian 
4
3
3
3
yes


Moray 
4
1
1
1
yes


North Ayrshire 
6
2
4
4
 


North Lanarkshire**
8
(withdrawn)
0
0
0
 


Orkney Islands 
2
2
2
2
 


Perth and Kinross 
2
2
2
2
 


Renfrewshire 
4
4
2
4
 


Scottish Borders 
1
1
1
1
yes


Shetland Islands
1
1
1
0
yes


South Ayrshire 
3
1
1
0
 


South Lanarkshire 
8
2
2
4
yes


Stirling 
4
0
1
2
 


West Dunbartonshire 
4
4
4
4
yes


West Lothian
4
2
2
2
 



  Notes:

  *East Renfrewshire delivers its Cultural Co-ordinators programme through 20 education workers delivering activities on – on a temporary, short-term basis. This figure applies to all three years.

  **Due to a series of recruitment problems the application from North Lanarkshire had to be withdrawn.

Energy Efficiency

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the energy efficiency targets are for each five-year period from 2005 to 2025.

Mr Jim Wallace: There are currently no separate energy efficiency targets for Scotland. However, the current review of the Scottish Climate Change programme is considering the possibility of Scottish energy efficiency targets as part of the development of the proposed energy efficiency strategy.

Enterprise

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much state aid is given to the manufacturing sector as a percentage of value added and how this figure compares to the EU average.

Mr Jim Wallace: This information is not held or compiled at the UK or Scottish level.

  All member states are required to provide annual returns of overall expenditure on approved state aid schemes to the European Commission. Increasingly, such schemes are being directed towards "horizontal" objectives where the recipients of the aid come from a wide range of different sectors, making differentiation by sector difficult to quantify. The European Commission does, however, attempt to extract data pertaining to the manufacturing sector. In doing so, the commission makes a number of assumptions based on disaggregated data, acknowledging that data on aid to manufacturing may be overestimated for some countries. This information can be found in the European Commission’s State Aid Scoreboard; the link to the website is:

  http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/state_aid/scoreboard/indicators/k3.html#stats1.

Environment

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any ministers or officials have been invited to visit Doncaster in light of the local authority’s implementation of a zero waste policy and, if so, who was invited, when they responded and what their response was.

Ross Finnie: The member suggested to Allan Wilson, when he was Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, that he might visit Doncaster to see their zero waste policy. No visits have taken place, but we continue to keep in touch with zero waste policies followed in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the world.

Environment

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that the National Waste Strategy fully reflects the First Minister’s view that recycling and waste are separate issues, as stated in his address to environment groups on 9 February 2005 as part of Environment Week.

Ross Finnie: The National Waste Strategy fully reflects that recycling is only one option for dealing with waste. Options further up the waste hierarchy, such as waste reduction and reuse, are preferable to recycling. A Waste Prevention Action Plan is currently being developed in partnership with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to outline ways of reducing waste arising more generally.

Environment

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14411 by Ross Finnie on 25 February 2005, what steps it is taking to analyse the reasons for the decline in the number of calls received by the "Dumb Dumpers" flytipping hotline between March 2004 and January 2005.

Ross Finnie: The "Dumb Dumpers" Stop Line is co-ordinated by Keep Scotland Beautiful and its progress is being monitored through the Scottish Fly-tipping Forum.

  Experience to date suggests that the public awareness of fly-tipping may be seasonal; that is, that the problem is more noticeable in summer. Television advertising also appears to have had an influence on the number of calls received as there is a significant increase after the "Dumb Dumpers" adverts are broadcast.

  In addition to calls received by the Stop Line, other incidents are reported directly to the relevant local authorities. A more complete picture of the extent of fly-tipping in Scotland will be provided when the Flycapture system commences on 1 April. This is being established with funding from the Executive and will provide a national database for fly-tipping incidents across Scotland.

European Convention on Human Rights

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to protect the Convention rights of those individuals who may be unable to protect these rights for themselves.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive has acted in a number of areas to protect those who may be unable to protect themselves, especially by introducing legislation such as the Adults With Incapacity Act (Scotland) 2000, the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001, and the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003. In taking such action the Executive has taken account of the need to ensure that the rights of those involved as set out in the European Convention on Human Rights are properly protected.

Family Law (Scotland) Bill

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make provision for issues regarding Jewish divorce in the Family Law (Scotland) Bill.

Hugh Henry: The Family Law (Scotland) Bill was introduced on 7 February. The bill does not contain any provisions relating to Jewish divorce.

  We remain in close contact with representatives of the Jewish community in Scotland and appreciate their concern to ensure appropriate granting of religious divorce by separating spouses, as required by Jewish law. We are continuing our discussions in the context of the bill and will welcome parliamentary debate and scrutiny.

Freedom of Information

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what average time has been taken to respond to freedom of information requests by each public authority within its responsibility.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive and each public authority within its responsibility must handle all requests for information in line with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and respond to them within 20 days. Requests for information are not all centrally monitored so figures for the average time taken to respond cannot be provided.

Freedom of Information

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many freedom of information requests have been received by each public authority within its responsibility.

Ms Margaret Curran: Every request for information which the Scottish Executive receives is handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Most requests for information are handled routinely and are not recorded or counted centrally. However, in line with centrally produced guidance, some requests for information are recorded centrally. Up to 18 February approximately 600 such requests have been recorded by the bodies covered by Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (excluding the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body).

Freedom of Information

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a breakdown by category of the sources of freedom of information requests to each public authority within its responsibility and what percentage of the total number of requests to each authority each category represents.

Ms Margaret Curran: Every request for information which the Scottish Executive receives is handled in line with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. As all requests are handled in the same way regardless of the source of the request we do not generally record aggregated data on the sources of requests for information. However, of the approximately 600 requests recorded centrally, as set out in the answer to question S2W-14682 on 9 March 2005, approximately two-thirds originated from the media.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search.

G8 Summit

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to the public purse will be of completed or planned refurbishment and redecoration of buildings or sites associated with the forthcoming G8 summit, detailing work carried out or being planned and the buildings or sites involved.

Cathy Jamieson: Some limited refurbishment and redecoration (amounting to less than £500) has taken place in a number of police buildings as part of the planning being taken forward for the summit. Other property costs are being incurred or are planned in connection with security but it is not our policy to comment on security aspects. I understand that some additional work is being commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office but any costs will be a matter for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

G8 Summit

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it can take to assist the G8 in its aims on counter-terrorism.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to apply the G8’s recommendations on counter-terrorism, broken down by section.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken in respect of section 2(2) of the G8’s recommendations on counter-terrorism.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken as a result of the G8’s core principles on counter-terrorism.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken as a result of recommendations made by the G8’s Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG)

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive has played a full part in helping to formulate commitments the UK Government has made on counter-terrorism in the forum of the G8 in the past. Work is on-going – in co-operation with the UK Government and our partners around the world – to fulfil these commitments.

G8 Summit

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what input it will have to the G8 summit discussions on the G8’s core principles on counter-terrorism.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what input it will have to the G8 summit’s discussions on the G8 Counter Terrorism Action Group (CTAG).

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what input it will have to the G8 summit’s discussions on the G8’s Secure and Facilitated International Travel Initiative (SAFTI).

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what influence or direct input it will have on the UK Government’s contribution to the G8 summit’s discussions on the G8’s core principles on counter-terrorism.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what influence or direct input it will have on the UK Government’s contribution to the G8 summit’s discussions on the G8’s Counter Terrorism Action Group (CTAG).

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what input it will have to the G8 summit’s discussions on its recommendations on counter-terrorism.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what influence or direct input it will have on the UK Government’s contribution to the G8 summit’s discussions on its recommendations on counter-terrorism.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any input into the G8’s Counter-Terrorism Action Group.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any direct input into or influence on the UK Government’s contribution to the G8’s Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG).

Cathy Jamieson: The Prime Minister has stated that the priorities for the UK's Presidency of the G8, and therefore the Gleneagles Summit, are Africa and Climate Change. The UK Government is discussing with its G8 partners how other topics to which the G8 attaches considerable importance, such as example counter-terrorism, will be handled at the summit.

  The Scottish Executive has regular contact with the UK Government on a range of issues, including counter-terrorism, and that input directly contributes to and informs the UK's position on counter-terrorism generally as well as in the context of the G8.

G8 Summit

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what influence or direct input it will have on the European Council’s contribution in the G8 summit’s discussions on counter-terrorism on the G8’s core principles on counter-terrorism.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what influence or direct input it will have on the European Council’s contribution to the G8 summit’s discussions on the G8’s Counter Terrorism Action Group (CTAG).

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what influence or direct input it will have on the European Council’s contribution to the G8 summit discussions on counter-terrorism in respect of the G8’s recommendations on counter-terrorism.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive, through the UK Government, plays a full part in helping to formulate the European Council’s position on counter-terrorism. The UK Government is considering with international partners, including various European institutions, how topics such as counter-terrorism will be handled at the G8 summit.

G8 Summit

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any input into the G8’s Secure and Facilitated International Travel Initiative (SAFTI).

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive has played a full part in helping to formulate commitments the UK Government has made on counter-terrorism in the forum of the G8 in the past, including the Secure and Facilitated International Travel Initiative. Work is on-going – in co-operation with the UK Government and our partners around the world – to fulfil these commitments.

Health

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current estimated turnaround time is for the dispensing of prescriptions for ostomist appliances and what its future target times are for the dispensing of such prescriptions.

Rhona Brankin: This information is not available.

  The proposed arrangements for the future supply of appliances (such as stoma and ostomy) were provided in the answer to S2W-13447 on 28 January 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

  At present my officials are starting preliminary work with NHS boards to identify models of service delivery currently in use across Scotland. When that initial work has been completed, we propose to involve other stakeholders, such as patient groups and other representative bodies. This will cover such issues as service and delivery standards.

Human Rights Commission

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the powers will be of the proposed Scottish Human Rights Commission and whether these will be limited to devolved matters.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive has stated that the Scottish Human Rights Commission will be able to investigate and report on generic or sectoral human rights issues in relation to public policy. The Executive’s preferred approach is that to support that investigatory function the commission should have powers of access to information based on the powers given to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. These powers would be defined fully in legislation. Additionally, the commission would be able to offer advice to the Scottish Parliament on legislation after introduction and to advise the courts in certain circumstances. The final shape of the commission’s powers will be for the Scottish Parliament to determine in its consideration of legislation to create the commission.

  As a body established by the Scottish Parliament, the commission will only be able to exercise its powers in relation to issues that are devolved in terms of the Scotland Act.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal authority is required for the use of physical restraints such as handcuffs.

Cathy Jamieson: Physical restraint may be used by a range of agencies including the police, prison and prisoner escort services, certain social care and mental health services, the UK Immigration Service; HM Customs and Excise and the military. The legal authority underpinning the use of restraint equipment depends on the circumstances. As well as the common law on what amounts to reasonable force and the law on self defence, a number of criminal, civil and disciplinary procedures also apply. These include, for example, section 9(1C)(k) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967, as amended; section 71 of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984, and section 154 of, and Schedule 11 to, the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many speeding offences detected by fixed-site cameras involved (a) UK nationals, (b) EU nationals, excluding UK nationals, and (c) non-EU nationals in each year since 1999.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many speeding offences detected by the police through methods other than fixed-site cameras involved (a) UK nationals, (b) EU nationals, excluding UK nationals, and (c) non-EU nationals in each year since 1999.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Justice

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in respect of disclosure of membership of the Masonic Order within the judiciary.

Cathy Jamieson: Ministers do not require members of judiciary, or applicants for judicial posts, to disclose membership of the Freemasons or any other societies to which they may belong.

Justice

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out into levels of membership of the Masonic Order within the judiciary.

Cathy Jamieson: For the reasons set out in the answer to question S2W-14527 on 9 March 2005, there has been no research into this matter. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of speeding and road traffic offences committed by drivers of foreign-registered vehicles; how many speeding offences were not proceeded with or prosecuted due to the vehicle being registered outwith the United Kingdom in each year since 1999, and what action it is taking as a result.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not separately identifiable in the available statistics.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what proportion of, burglars convicted for a third offence received a custodial sentence in the most recent year for which information is available and what the average length of sentence was.

Cathy Jamieson: A total of 172 persons were given a custodial sentence in 2002 having been convicted for a third time for housebreaking since the start of 1989, 62 per cent of all such offenders. The average length of custodial sentence imposed for these offenders was 179 days.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is regarding any legislation or other action being taken by it, or in conjunction with a UK department, to prevent convicted criminals benefiting from their criminal acts.

Cathy Jamieson: The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 provides for the confiscation, civil recovery and taxation of the proceeds of unlawful conduct. Up to the end of December 2004, relevant assets worth over £2 million had been confiscated or recovered in Scotland.

  We are also considering with the Home Office possible measures to prevent offenders profiting from writing about their crimes.

Justice

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with progress being made in reducing the number of women in custody.

Cathy Jamieson: Sentencing must remain a matter for the courts. The Executive, however, remains committed to reducing the numbers of women sentenced to custody who might benefit from a community penalty. We have increased the sentencing options available to the courts over the last five years with the introduction of Restriction of Liberty Orders and Drug Treatment and Testing Orders and pilots for the mandatory use of Supervised Attendance Orders. In addition, we are investing £1 million a year in bail information and supervision schemes and have introduced arrest referral and deferred sentence pilots. We fund the 218 Time Out centre in Glasgow and have provided sheriffs with information on Non-Custodial Disposals packs to keep them informed of the options.

Justice

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is monitoring the work of the Time Out centre in Glasgow.

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive is in regular contact with the 218 Time Out centre and receives monthly monitoring information from the pilot.

  The pilot is also being evaluated by researchers from the University of Stirling and a report is expected in October.

Justice

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is monitoring the number of women sent to the Time Out centre in Glasgow who would otherwise be in custody.

Cathy Jamieson: It is not possible to determine what sentence or disposal might otherwise have been imposed by the courts on women who offend, had Time Out not been available, except in very specific circumstances (for example, on bail with a condition of residence).

  However, the independent evaluation currently being carried out by Stirling University, due for completion in October, will examine this issue and draw on data from a range of different sources.

Justice

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the status is of A Better Way: The Report of the Ministerial Working Group on Offending .

Cathy Jamieson: A Better Way was published in February 2002 and has formed the basis for developing sentencing options for women who offend. The report did not make specific recommendations but drew some important conclusions. As a result, the Executive has taken forward or introduced a number of initiatives, including:

  The 218 Time Out Centre, now established in Glasgow as a criminal justice focussed community resource for women offenders.

  The current piloting of mandatory Supervised Attendance Orders in Glasgow District Court (including the Stipendiary Court) and Ayr Sheriff Court to deal with minor fine defaulters.

  The national roll-out of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, due for completion later this year.

  The current piloting of six Arrest Referral schemes, three of which have a particular focus on women.

  The forthcoming Structured Deferred Sentence pilots in four areas, two of which will have a specific focus on women.

Justice

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many women have been referred to the Glasgow drugs court and, of these, how many have been charged with soliciting since the beginning of the drugs court pilot scheme, broken down by month.

Cathy Jamieson: The following table details the number of women referred to the Drug Court each month since the start of the pilot. (Where no month is given, no referrals of women were received).

  No women have appeared in the Drug Court as a result of a charge of soliciting. Soliciting is an offence in terms of section 46 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 which does not carry a penalty of imprisonment. Such offences are usually prosecuted at the district court and would not be eligible for the Drug Court where the chances of receiving a custodial sentence are much higher.

  

Month
Number of Women Referred


November 2001
2


December 2001
2


February 2002
1


May 2002
1


July 2002
2


February 2003
1


March 2003
1


May 2003
1


June 2003
1


January 2004
1


February 2004
3


March 2004
1


April 2004
3


May 2004
1


August 2004
2


Total
23

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people received a custodial sentence for (a) drunkenness and (b) drink driving in each year since 1997 and what the average length of sentence served has been.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table.

  Custodial Sentences Imposed in Scottish Courts for Drunkenness or Drink Driving1, 1997-2002

  

 
Number of Custodial Sentences
Average Sentence Imposed (Days)


Drunkenness

 


1997
21
10


1998
18
13


1999
12
27


2000
4
19


2001
4
9


2002
4
41


Drink driving
 


1997
192
116


1998
153
121


1999
137
134


2000
152
132


2001
169
116


2002
236
114



  Note: 1. Where main offence involved.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many criminal justice cases have been delayed or dropped due to the names of accused persons being (a) incorrectly and (b) incompletely recorded in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Languages

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timetable is for developing and implementing a national languages strategy.

Patricia Ferguson: The national languages strategy will be developed within the life of this parliament. The timetable for implementing it will depend on the strategy itself.

Planning

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that shops should be located in towns rather than rural areas and what guidance it issues to planners in rural areas such as the north east on the location of retail developments.

Johann Lamont: It is for planning authorities to assess all applications for retail development against a wide range of factors and local circumstances and, in particular, national planning policy as set out in National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 8: Town Centres and Retailing and Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 15: Planning for Rural Development .

  NPPG 8 gives priority to locating new retail development in town centres or other centres well served by public transport. SPP 15 indicates that most retail development should be focussed at accessible locations and that major facilities should be concentrated in the larger settlements.

  Copies of NPPG 8 and SPP 15 have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 1081 and 35317 respectively).

Planning

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a presumption against retail development in rural areas.

Johann Lamont: There is no absolute presumption against retail development in rural areas. It is for planning authorities to assess all applications against national planning policy and other material factors.

  National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 8: Town Centres and Retailing gives priority to locating new retail development in town centres or other centres well served by public transport. Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 15: Planning for Rural Development indicates that most retail development should be focussed at accessible locations and that major facilities should be concentrated in the larger settlements.

  Copies of NPPG 8 and SPP 15 have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 1081 and 35317 respectively).

Planning

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to change the planning system to assist farmers to diversify or move towards retail activity.

Johann Lamont: On 7 February the Executive published a series of planning documents designed to grow the economy and encourage sustainable development in rural areas.

  National planning policy, as contained in Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 15: Planning for Rural Development, recognises that planning authorities along with others can support diversification in ways that benefit the economy and lead to good development on the ground. Indeed, it emphasises that rural diversification should be embraced to help, for example, farmers expand or start new enterprises.

  In addition Planning Advice Note (PAN) 73: Rural Diversification highlights how the planning system can support rural diversification and shows how issues of accessibility, infrastructure, scale and design can be overcome to the benefit of the economy, the environment and rural communities.

  Copies of SPP 15 and PAN 73 have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 35317 and 35308 respectively).

Police

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many arrest warrants were not executed by the police in each of the last five years, broken down by police board area; in how many of these cases was the reason for the warrant not being executed due to a delay in its processing so that it overran its time limit; how many prosecutions were dropped, or sentences quashed, as a consequence, and in how many of these cases were the victims informed of the reason for the case being abandoned and apologised to for such a situation arising.

Cathy Jamieson: Information is only available centrally on some of the aspects requested. In 2004, a short life working group led by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) was commissioned by the Scottish Executive to carry out a review of the warrants system within Scotland’s criminal justice system. The group’s report, which was published in December 2004 and is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/justice/stwgow-00.asp includes statistics on the number of outstanding warrants on 31 July 2004 and arrest warrants received and executed in July 2004. It also made a number of recommendations to improve the warrants system, including:

  the formation of dedicated Warrant Teams and Warrant Liaison Officers;

  HM Inspectorate of Constabulary to continue to examine force warrants procedures;

  ACPOS to examine force procedures and promulgating good practice;

  a working group to improve the existing protocol on prioritisation of warrants;

  expansion of joint working;

  increased penalties for failure to appear, and

  the National Criminal Justice Board to consider the development of performance measures.

  The report has an action plan for implementation and the Executive is keeping the warrants system under review to identify any improvements that can be made.

Police

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) regular, (b) full-time reserve and (c) part-time reserve police officers were medically retired as a result of being injured on duty in each year since 1997.

Cathy Jamieson: The total number of regular police officers medically retired from the eight Scottish forces since 1997 is shown in the following table.

  

1997-98
1998-99
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


173
169
187
198
197
135
131



  The number of regular police officers medically retired as a result of being injured on duty is not held centrally. There are no reserve police officers in Scotland.

Police

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the practice of children being asked by police what school they attend before any charge has been made and without an offence having been committed.

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the potential equal opportunities implications of police asking children what school they attend in (a) Glasgow and (b) the west of Scotland.

Cathy Jamieson: This is an operational matter for chief constables. However, the police have an important role to play in partnership working to prevent harm to children. If, for example, the police are concerned about the behaviour of a child, they may want to contact his or her school’s guidance teacher so that additional support or early intervention could be considered, before reaching the stage of criminal charges or referral to the Children’s Reporter.

Police

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will become mandatory for police boards to take out personal injury insurance for (a) on-duty police officers and (b) off-duty police officers who attend incidents.

Cathy Jamieson: Police boards are required to have appropriate employers’ liability insurance to provide them with cover in the event of an employee (which for this purpose includes a police officer) seeking compensation for an injury brought about as a result of their negligence or default. The Police Pension Scheme makes provision for the payment of benefits in the event of an officer sustaining an injury in the execution of his or her duty. This includes occasions when an officer is off-duty but dealing with an incident in his or her capacity as an officer.

Police

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will have regular reviews of the police funding formula and, if so, how often.

Cathy Jamieson: We concluded a review of the funding formula for police grant aided expenditure in 2004 and published a report in October 2004. It is intended that the information on which the model is based will be updated in alternate years in line with the spending review cycle.

Police

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any input into the choice of body armour to be procured for Scottish police forces.

Cathy Jamieson: This is an operational matter for Chief Constables.

Police

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any concerns have been expressed in respect of changes in standards for police body armour as a result of new procurement procedures.

Cathy Jamieson: I am not aware of any concerns having been raised with the Scottish Executive on this matter.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12927 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 December 2004, what the average length of time spent in prison is, including any time spent on remand, for prisoners sentenced to (a) less than three months, (b) three to six months and (c) six months to one year.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The estimated available information is for 2003 and was (a) 23; (b) 56 and (c) 113 days.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated number of cases arising out of the judgement of Lord Bonomy in the Napier case concerning slopping out in prisons is and what the estimated costs are in respect of damages or payments to be made.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Napier v Scottish Ministers was not a test case. Lord Bonomy’s judgement related to the conditions in Barlinnie in 2003 and the effect that these had on Mr Napier’s health. There are currently about 440 live slopping out related court actions. These actions relate to a range of different prisons and different periods. The SPS have received a further 1,000 letters intimating similar claims. The possibility of such actions was recorded in the Scottish Prison Service’s Annual Accounts for 2003-04. Included in our 2003-04 accounts was a provision for £26 million representing our estimate at that point, in the light of Lord Bonomy’s judgement, of SPS's possible liability arising since 1999 when the European Convention on Human Rights came into force in Scotland. The accounts also included a contingent liability of £136 million in respect of other cases that might arise in connection with the European Convention of Human Rights. In his report on the audit of the SPS for that year, the Auditor General recorded that the auditor was satisfied that the basis on which the provision and contingent liability were estimated was reasonable and took into account legal advice, and commented that only the courts can determine the SPS’s ultimate liability.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many assaults by inmates on other inmates occurred in each prison in each year since 1999.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The available data, which is consistent with the totals given in SPS annual reports, is in the following Table.

  

Establishment
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Aberdeen
3
7
10
6
8


Barlinnie
13
8
11
28
8


Castle Huntly
0
0
1
0
0


Cornton Vale
0
0
0
0
2


Dumfries
5
2
3
3
4


Dungavel
1
 
 
 
 


Edinburgh
4
5
12
14
8


Glenochil
14
7
10
11
4


Greenock
1
3
4
4
1


Inverness
4
0
0
0
4


Kilmarnock
3
5
9
16
8


Low Moss
13
5
5
11
1


Noranside
0
0
0
1
0


Perth
7
7
4
14
16


Peterhead
3
2
2
0
2


Polmont
5
15
8
15
11


Shotts
15
3
6
4
9


Totals
91
69
85
127
86

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) suicides and (b) attempted suicides have taken place in each year since 1999, broken down by prison.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The available information is

  (a)

  

Establishment
Year


 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Aberdeen
1
0
0
2
0


Barlinnie
5
5
4
3
1


Castle Huntly
0
0
0
0
0


Cornton Vale
0
0
2
1
0


Dumfries
1
0
0
0
0


Edinburgh
2
2
1
0
1


Glenochil
1
1
0
0
1


Greenock
2
1
0
0
0


Inverness
0
1
0
0
1


Kilmarnock
1
1
2
2
1


Low Moss
0
0
0
0
0


Noranside
0
0
0
0
0


Perth
1
0
1
0
0


Peterhead
1
0
0
0
0


Polmont
0
0
1
0
0


Shotts
2
0
0
0
0


Total
17
11
11
8
5



  (b) Records Have Only Been Kept Since 2002-03

  

Establishment
Year


 
2002-03
2003-04


Aberdeen
3
1


Barlinnie
24
11


Castle Huntly
0
0


Cornton Vale
14
12


Dumfries
1
1


Edinburgh
4
4


Glenochil
3
1


Greenock
10
1


Inverness
2
1


Kilmarnock
0
0


Low Moss
1
0


Noranside
0
0


Perth
10
0


Peterhead
1
0


Polmont
6
5


Shotts
4
1


Total
83
38

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of prisoner inductions is for prisoners serving (a) less than three months, (b) three to six months and (c) six months to one year.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Prisoner induction arrangements are available for all prisoners following admission. The information requested is not available.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) initial cost was and (b) estimated annual cost is of the national prison induction programme referred to in the Scottish Prison Service’s oral evidence to the Justice 1 Committee’s inquiry into the effectiveness of rehabilitation in prisons ( Official Report , c. 1076).

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information as requested is not available. Prison induction is an integral part of SPS operational activities and is not costed separately from other aspects of the management of prisoners.

Prison Service

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners’ receptions of women there have been at HM Prison Greenock in each of the last 12 months.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  No female prisoners are received in HM Prison Greenock from the Courts - all transfer there from Cornton Vale. The number of women at Greenock has normally been about 65.

Prison Service

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners’ receptions of women there have been in each of the last (a) 12 months and (b) three years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Provisional data for 2004 is given in the table:

  Female Receptions to Penal Establishments

  

Month
Total


January
275


February
307


March
372


April
307


May
281


June
312


July
232


August
276


September
254


October
231


November
264


December
243



  Information on female prison receptions in the last three years is given in table 12B of Prison Statistics Scotland, 2003 published by the Scottish Executive in August 2004, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33610).

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to direct the Scottish Prison Service in respect of fulfilling its obligations to local communities where it has closed a facility.

Cathy Jamieson: The relationship between Scottish ministers and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is set out in the Scottish Prison Service Framework Document, the text for which can be found on the SPS website at www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs/framework/default.asp .

Road Safety

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used to determine whether a school crossing patroller is required for (a) primary and (b) secondary children to reach school safely.

Nicol Stephen: Guidance for local authorities on school crossing patrols - School Crossing Patrol Service: Guidelines ,  were produced by the Local Authority Road Safety Officers Association and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, with funding from the UK Government. The guidelines, which were published in 2003, include advice on the management of school crossing patrols; risk assessment and management; criteria for the establishment of patrol sites, the review and disestablishment of sites, and the selection, appointment and training of patrol operatives. A copy has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 35391).

  The criteria are based on the number of children crossing the road on their way to and from school and the number of vehicles on the road. At sites where the flows of vehicles and/or children are low a range of factors, including whether children are of primary school or secondary school age, is also considered to ensure that the circumstances at each site are fully taken into account.

Schools

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations are required when the removal of a school crossing patroller is proposed.

Nicol Stephen: There is no statutory requirement for consultation. Guidance for local authorities on school crossing patrols - School Crossing Patrol Service: Guidelines,  were produced by the Local Authority Road Safety Officers Association and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, with funding from the UK Government. The guidelines, which were published in 2003, include advice on the management of school crossing patrols; risk assessment and management; criteria for the establishment of patrol sites, the review and disestablishment of sites, and the selection, appointment and training of patrol operatives. A copy has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 35391).

Speed Cameras

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many speed cameras have been removed in each of the last three years and from what locations they have been removed.

Cathy Jamieson: No fixed site safety cameras have been permanently removed since safety camera partnerships started operating in Scotland. Information relating to the removal of cameras before the establishment of partnerships is not held centrally.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it measures the implementation of Sport 21 targets established by  sportscotland and what progress is being made in achieving these targets.

Patricia Ferguson: I should first make clear that these targets were not established by  sportscotland. Sport 21 2003-2007: The National Strategy for Sport - Shaping Scotland’s Future , is the strategy for Scottish sport by Scottish sport. Its 11 targets were developed by all key partners with a role in developing and delivering sport in Scotland and they will all play a part in helping achieve these targets.  sportscotland and the Executive are only two of the many partners.

  Sportscotland does play a co-ordinating role which includes gathering, collating and reporting information on progress against targets. Targets 1 and 2 will be measured by the Executive using the Scottish Health Survey and by surveying education authorities respectively. The remaining targets will be measured by sportscotland using the Scottish Opinion Survey for targets 3 – 6, 9 and 10; through obtaining regular updates from governing bodies of sport for target 7; through its computerised facilities planning model for target 8, and obtaining feedback from all local authorities for target 11. Because the initial two to three years of the Sport 21 implementation process is largely concerned with planning, introducing programmes and establishing infrastructure, it was always anticipated that successful progress towards the participation targets would occur more slowly during 2003 to 2005, and then with greater momentum during 2006 and 2007.

  Progress is reported annually to the Sport 21 National Implementation Forum chaired by me and on which all key partners sit. The only figures available at present are those to April 2004 which is only one year after the launch of Sport 21 and prior to the final endorsement of the related target strategies. These were reported to the forum at its meeting yesterday and will be posted on sportscotland’s website at www.sportscotland.org.uk. The figures up to December 2004 will be available in summer 2005, and will be reported formally to the forum at its October meeting. These figures will give a more accurate indication of progress being made.

Sport

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it cost to produce Scotland Backs the Bid and, of this sum, what contribution was made by (a) it and (b) each of its agencies.

Patricia Ferguson: The total cost of producing and distributing the Scotland Backs the Bid brochure was £15,340 plus VAT. These costs were met jointly by  sportscotland and EventScotland.

Sport

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the costs (a) incurred and (b) committed but not yet incurred by (i) it and (ii) each of its agencies in respect of the provision of support for London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic games.

Patricia Ferguson: Direct expenditure incurred by the Scottish Executive is £653.71 with no further commitments planned.

  Sportscotland and EventScotland have jointly spent £25,853 and committed, but not yet incurred, a further £9,405. EventScotland contributed £10,000 towards these costs. Further activity by the partner organisations will be discussed at a meeting on 23 March and we estimate that costs totalling £50,000-60,000 will have been incurred by July.

  These costs do not include VAT or general staff costs.

Students

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14041 by Mr Jim Wallace on 25 February 2005, what the deferment figures were for Scottish-domiciled students only.

Mr Jim Wallace: The deferment figures for Scottish-domiciled students only are given in the following table. The format of this table is consistent with the table referred to in S2W-14041.

  Analysis of Deferment, of Scottish-Domiciled Students, at 31 March by Year of Entering Repayment: Numbers Of Customers (Public Debt Borrowers Only)

  

Date of Entry to Repayment (1 April)
Mortgage Style Customers who should be entering Repayment
Number Deferring at 31 March






2002
2003
2004


1991
88
6
7%
6
7%
4
5%


1992
5,107
167
3%
127
2%
116
2%


1993
7,184
525
7%
427
6%
364
5%


1994
8,208
1,007
12%
881
11%
790
10%


1995
8,491
1,705
20%
1,463
17%
1,261
15%


1996
11,608
2,822
24%
2,432
21%
2,149
19%


1997
12,223
3,930
32%
3,411
28%
3,027
25%


1998
14,476
6,310
44%
5,558
38%
4,960
34%


1999
13,277
6,864
52%
5,986
45%
5,363
40%


2000
15,262
9,323
61%
8,244
54%
7,250
48%


2001
16,085
11,642
72%
9,900
62%
8,824
55%


2002
14,669
-
 
10,513
72%
9,177
63%


2003
5,250
-
 
-
 
3,626
69%


Total
131,928
44,301
34%
48,948
37%
46,911
36%



  Source: Student Loans Company.

  Notes:

  1. Constituent parts may not add to totals as customers may have deferred loan accounts with statutory repayment due dates in different financial years (FY).

  2. Figures for customers entering repayment are based on closing position at end of FY 2003-04.

  It should be noted that deferrals apply only to Mortgage Style loans and hence make up a smaller proportion of loans each year (Mortgage Style loans apply to students who started in higher education before September 1998). This explains the observed drop in Mortgage Style customers who should be entering repayment as of 1 April 2003.

Transport

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent in 2003-04 on supporting bus services, both directly and through local authorities, broken down by local authority area.

Nicol Stephen: The information is set out in the following table.

  

Local Authority
Supported Bus Services Gross Revenue(1) expenditure
(£000)
Total under the Rural Transport Fund, Urban Community Transport Initiative and Rural Demand Responsive Transport Scheme
(£000)


Aberdeen City
-
50,000


Aberdeenshire
1,921
762,244


Angus
686
214,000


Argyll and Bute
762
436,864


Clackmannanshire
324
51,000


City of Edinburgh
1,574
150,000


Dumfries and Galloway
3,980
652,066


Dundee City 
763
106,650


East Ayrshire
-
168,671


East Dunbartonshire
272
47,000


East Lothian
554
129,873


East Renfrewshire
-
46,000


Eilean Siar
1,382
647,109


Falkirk
1,545
69,000


Fife
1,668
185,745


Glasgow City
823
145,000


Highland
1,771
1,140,159


Inverclyde
-
44,000


Midlothian
556
73,691


Moray
436
180,066


North Ayrshire
313
129,720


North Lanarkshire
797
60,000


Orkney Islands
264
344,104


Perth and Kinross
1,218
303,579


Renfrewshire
512
50,000


Scottish Borders
1,424
386,005


Shetland Islands
707
184,300


South Ayrshire
1,698
162,886


South Lanarkshire
426
212,973


Stirling
1,295
145,172


West Dunbartonshire
950
47,000


West Lothian
1,424
206,615


Total
30,045
7,531,492



  Source: LFR5 return to the Scottish Executive.

Waste Management

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what health monitoring is undertaken at sewage disposal sites and by whom.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for monitoring disposal of sludge to land. Scottish Water has a responsibility to provide SEPA and waste management operators with an analysis of the content of sludge which is being sent for disposal on land.